Did a BC MLA’s Past Racist Comments Sink a Conservative MP?

On the Friday before election day, Muslim residents of the South Surrey-White Rock riding protested outside MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s office, holding signs criticizing past racist comments by her husband, B.C. Conservative MLA Brent Chapman.

It wasn’t the first time the group had picketed the Conservative MP’s office. Once again they got no answers to their questions about Chapman’s comments.

“She did not meet with us. She left [her] office, her staff locked the office and went away — and we stood there one hour, waiting for her,” Asad Syed, chair of the White Rock Muslim Association, told The Tyee.

Syed’s community has been frustrated by the lack of responses since Chapman was elected in November's provincial election despite what Muslim community advocates call past “terrible, disgusting, really horrifying” comments about Muslim people.

Although Chapman issued an apology during the provincial campaign, neither he nor Findlay ever met with the Muslim community to discuss their concerns with his comments.

That left the community feeling like it had no political representation at either the provincial or the federal level, Syed previously told The Tyee.

Findlay, first elected to Parliament in 2011 in the riding of Delta-Richmond East, was defeated in last week’s federal election, losing to Liberal candidate Ernie Klassen. The South Surrey-White Rock riding has a history of electing Conservatives, although former BC Liberal MLA Gordie Hogg won the seat for the Liberals in a 2017 byelection before losing to Findlay in 2019.

Klassen was one of 169 Liberal candidates elected, helping the Liberals achieve a minority government and a fourth term in office.

Findlay’s defeat was part of a dramatic and disappointing reversal for the Conservatives, who were set to win a majority government until January, according to polls. That’s when U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats against Canada changed the focus of the campaign and brought a resurgence of support for the Liberals and new leader Mark Carney.

Klassen said the key issues he heard while campaigning were concerns about Trump’s threats, the economic impacts of tariffs, and housing, health and public safety.

But Chapman’s past comments — unearthed during the provincial campaign — continued to affect public opinion, Klassen said.

One of Chapman’s social media messages from 2015 described Palestinians as “little inbred walking, talking, breathing time bombs.”

Other posts from 2015 and 2016 showed Chapman sharing inaccurate posts about the dangers of allowing Syrian refugees into Canada, lurid stories about inbreeding in Saudi Arabia and calls to curtail immigration from Muslim countries to Canada. He often shared links to discredited sites peddling false information.

“There was an element of the constituents in this riding that were very concerned about the comments that he has made, and even more concerned about the fact that they were trying to meet Kerry-Lynne Findlay on a number of occasions,” Klassen said, “and she refused to return calls or to speak to that particular community.

“But I will also say that there were non-Muslims who were also very concerned about those kinds of comments.”

Findlay did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

There was a time in Canadian politics when past racist, homophobic or sexist comments would have likely resulted in candidates being dropped or rejected by voters — especially in a riding as diverse as South Surrey, where 36 per cent of the population is a visible minority, according to the 2021 census. But with the rise of far-right rhetoric and a pushing of boundaries on acceptable speech, that’s no longer the case.

Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad refused to drop Chapman as a candidate, saying he was satisfied with Chapman’s apology and explanation that his views on Muslim people have evolved over the years. Chapman was elected with a comfortable margin, but he has never responded to Syed’s invitation to come meet with the local Muslim community.

Following the protests at Findlay’s office, Syed said he received messages from non-Muslims in the riding who were also concerned about Chapman’s comments and Findlay’s refusal to meet to discuss the Muslim community’s concerns.

Chapman’s past social media comments came to light in the midst of tensions in Canadian society around Israel’s war in Gaza, and fears of both rising antisemitism and Islamophobia in Canada.

Syed said he was heartened to see so many South Surrey residents come to an April 25 screening of No Other Land, an Oscar-winning documentary about a Palestinian community being forcibly displaced by Israeli soldiers and settlers.

Klassen, a White Rock city councillor and former president of the White Rock Pride Society, said he’s already visited the mosque twice and will continue to engage with the community.

“I’ve spoken to them and pledged to them that I am a person who values and embraces multiculturalism,” Klassen said. “And my track record within the community is inclusivity of all regardless of religion, skin colour, ethnic backgrounds or financial status.”